


Devilish Savior

by JasonMorganfan87



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Child Abuse, Chloe Decker Needs A Hug, Episode: s01e01 Pilot, F/M, Family, Gen, Good Parent Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer TV), Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Neglectful Dan, Protective Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer TV), Trixie Espinoza & Lucifer Morningstar Bonding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:47:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23797912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JasonMorganfan87/pseuds/JasonMorganfan87
Summary: Tragedy struck Chloe's life when her child was taken from her as a toddler.  Years later, she meets Lucifer, who has a child that reminds Chloe much of her little girl.  Have Chloe's prayers been answered?  And can the three become a family?
Relationships: Chloe Decker/Lucifer Morningstar
Comments: 223
Kudos: 1047





	1. Chapter 1

Chloe Decker sighed as she got dressed for work. It was the weekend, and she would’ve preferred to spend it with her family, but it was her week to work the weekend at the station. Thankfully, Dan was off this weekend, so she wouldn’t need to get a babysitter. It would be good for Trixie, her two-year-old daughter, to spend some one on one time with her father anyway, since it was so rare.

Chloe and Dan had been fighting about that lately. Dan didn’t spend nearly enough time with her and Trixie. He was always volunteering for extra shifts. Sometimes he wouldn’t get home until they were asleep. Other times, he would break promises he made to spend time with them. Chloe was getting very tired of it. 

After getting her uniform on, Chloe headed down to the kitchen. Dan was sitting at the table drinking coffee while Trixie sat in her highchair munching on dry cereal. Chloe immediately went over and kissed her daughter on the top of the head before turning to Dan. “Okay, I’m gonna head to the station. Hey, you should take Trixie to the park or something. It’s nice out.”

“Actually, I invited Malcolm over. There’s a football game on later,” Dan said before taking a sip of his coffee.

To say that Chloe wasn’t happy was an understatement. First of all, this was supposed to be a father daughter day for Trixie. Dan had promised that just a week ago. Second, Chloe didn’t like Malcolm Graham much. The man just rubbed her the wrong way. She didn’t feel comfortable with him in her house around her daughter. “What? You promised you were going to spend the day with Trixie.”

“I am,” he said.

“No, it’s not spending the day with her if you spend the day ignoring her while you watch a ball game with one your buddies,” Chloe argued. She knew that was how it would go. It happened every time Dan had a day off and decided to spend it watching TV. He barely paid any attention to anything else.

“She’s only two. She doesn’t know the difference. It’s rare that I get a weekend off, Chloe. I’d like to spend it relaxing,” Dan said.

“Yeah, God forbid you spend it bonding with your daughter. I have to go,” Chloe said before turning to her daughter. “Mommy loves you, Monkey. I’ll see you later.” She gave one last glare to her husband before storming out.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Chloe felt her heart beating faster and faster as she raced home with the sirens on. When she’d gotten back from patrol, her superior had called her into his office and informed her that officers were called out to her home. She didn’t even stick around to find out why they were called. She immediately raced out of the precinct. A thousand possible outcomes were going through her mind, and there wasn’t a single one of them that were positive. 

When Chloe got home, she saw several police cars in front of her house. She couldn’t even get to her driveway, so she just stopped on the side of the road and got out. She immediately ran out of the car and towards the house. When she got to the house, there were many officers in the house. She found Dan talking with Malcolm and another detective. “Dan!”

“Chloe, thank God you’re home,” Dan said.

Chloe ran to her husband. “What’s going on? Where’s Trixie. Is she okay?”

“I…I didn’t mean for it to happen. She was asleep in her room. I left the backdoor open because it was hot and I wanted to let some air in,” Dan said.

Chloe barely computed his words didn’t really care to. All she cared about was making sure her daughter was okay. “Dan, where is Trixie? Is she upstairs?”

“No,” Dan said quietly.

“Well, where is she?” Chloe asked again. The pounding in her heart was getting worse and her stomach started to drop. Why wasn’t he answering her? Why wouldn’t he tell her where their daughter was?

“I don’t know,” Dan finally admitted.

Chloe’s stomach dropped again. “What do you mean you don’t know?! Where is she, Dan?”

“I…I went to check on her, but she wasn’t there. She must have gotten past me and went out the back door,” Dan finally told her.

Chloe felt like the air was being taken from her lungs as fear worse than she’d ever felt before took effect. Her baby was out there alone somewhere, and no one knew where. “Sh…She’s out on the street alone?!”

“Decker, we’ve got a lot of officers out looking for your daughter. She’s probably just wandering around. We’ll find her,” the detective next to her, Detective Adams said.

“How long has she been gone?” Chloe asked, trying to figure out in her head just how bad this was. Trixie was only two. She couldn’t walk that fair in a short amount of time, but what if it wasn’t a short amount of time? And what if she ran out into traffic? Or what if someone grabbed her off the street.

“It couldn’t have been that long,” Dan said.

“You don’t know how long it was? You were paying that little attention to her?” Chloe asked angrily.

“No, she was asleep. I didn’t hear her,” Dan said.

“So she could’ve been gone for…” Chloe trailed off as she caught a whiff of Dan’s breath. It smelt like alcohol. “You were drinking?”

“It’s not what you think,” Dan said.

“Not only were you not watching our daughter, you were drinking too!” Chloe said angrily.

“He had a couple of beers. Give him a break,” Malcolm said.

Chloe rounded on him. “Shut up! This has nothing to do with you!”

“Don’t forget I’m your superior, Decker,” Malcolm shot back. 

“Graham, that’s enough. Take a walk,” Detective Adams said, causing the other detective to walk away. “Like I said, we have a bunch of officers searching the area. We’ll find your daughter. Don’t think the worse right now.

Chloe began to walk away. She wanted to throttle Dan for his recklessness, but she didn’t have time for that. Her priority was finding her little girl and praying that she was okay when she found her.

“Chloe, where are you going?” Dan asked.

“To find my daughter,” Chloe said coolly without even looking back at her husband. She passed Malcolm on her way out to her car, completely missing the satisfied smirk he sent to her back as she left.


	2. Chapter 2

Lucifer exited his car in front of a large house that almost seemed mansion like. His demon, Maze, did the same and they walked towards the entrance.

"You've never made a house call to grant a favor before," Maze commented.

"Yes, well, I was promised that this would be worth my while," Lucifer said as they walked to the front door. He rang the doorbell and waited.

The door was answered by a man in an Armani suit. "You must be Mr. Morningstar. I'm Matthew Davis. Please come in," the man said before ushering them inside.

They both stepped inside. "Well, Mr. Davis, you said meeting you here would be worth my while. You'd better be right."

"Yes, of course. I apologize for the inconvenience, but this is a very sensitive matter," Matthew said as he led them into the living room. "In fact, I didn't realize you'd be bringing anyone with you."

"This is Maze. She knows to be discrete," Lucifer said.

"Good. Can I offer you both a drink," he asked as he went over to the minibar.

"Naturally. Scotch," Lucifer said before he and Maze made themselves comfortable on the black leather sectional couch. There was a matching loveseat across from them. In between the two couches was a large, glass coffee table with a folder on it.

Matthew came over and handed them each a drink before sitting down on the loveseat across from them. "I assume you'll want to get right down to business."

"If you please. I can guess that this has something to do with money," Lucifer said. In the two years that he'd been on Earth permanently, he'd dealt in a lot of favors, and many of them involved money in some way.

Matthew smirked. "Look around, Mr. Morningstar. Do I look like I need money?"

Lucifer smirked back. "Looks can be deceiving. I've done my research on you. You've made some very bad investments lately. Your fortune has taken a hit."

"Well, I suppose you're right in part to my motivations. Money is a factor. Mostly though, I have a problem I need solved," Matthew said before sliding the folder that was on the table towards Lucifer. "That's everything you need to know."

Lucifer picked the folder up and opened it. The first thing he saw as picture of a little girl. It was all he needed to see. He didn't do this type of favor. He sighed in irritation and put the folder back on the table. "You've waisted my time and your own. I don't do favors involving child custody. Contact a lawyer."

"Yes, I understand. A custody situation would be way under your skill set. It would probably seem like an insult to ask such a thing. This isn't a custody dispute. I need you to make my problem go away."

Lucifer looked between the man in front of him and the folder still laying on the table. He had an inkling of what this man wanted from him, which was why the next thing he said was spoken in a dangerous tone. "What?"

"Everything you need is in there. Medical and birth records," he said. Well, the birth records were falsified, but Morningstar didn't need to know that. "Of course, you'll need to make them disappear, but I figured you might need the information on them to get rid of her."

Lucifer leaned forward to get a bit closer to the man. "Let me see if I understand this correctly. You want me to make your child disappear."

Maze began to smile as she watched Lucifer. He was pissed. This was not the kind of thing Lucifer did. In fact, this was the kind of thing Lucifer tortured souls in Hell for personally. Guys like Davis didn't punish themselves. They were handled on a more personal level. Maze was going to enjoy seeing what the Devil did to this guy.

"Yes. Now, I don't want you to kill her. There's too much of a chance that that could come back to bite us all. Besides, the amount of money we could get for her would be enormous. We would split it fifty-fifty, of course. You don't need to worry about much of a cover up, either. The kid doesn't go to school and has never left the property. All her medical needs are handled by house calls. As long as you can make the birth records, disappear, it shouldn't be a problem," Matthew said. The birth records shouldn't be a big deal at all since they were a very good forgery. He wished he hadn't gotten involved in this at all, but his wife had wanted a kid. Now that she was gone, he wanted the kid gone.

Lucifer was dangerously close to breaking his father's biggest rule. The more this vermin spoke, the more Lucifer wanted to end him and send him to Hell where he belonged. Lucifer wasn't a child person by any stretch of the imagination. They unnerved him, not that he would ever admit that. But he absolutely despised humans who set out to harm children, who treated them like property like this filth across from him planned to do.

Lucifer was ready to make example of the human for even daring to believe that Lucifer would not only condone, but take part in this atrocity, however, before he had a chance, there was a loud crash in the next room.

"Excuse me," Matthew said with an irritated look on his face.

"Well, obviously, this is one deal you won't be making," Maze said.

"Yes, obviously!" Lucifer said in a furious tone.

They both suddenly heard a thud and a cry.

Lucifer was out of his seat in moments. He ran towards the cries into the kitchen. When he got there he saw a small child, the same one in the photo he'd seen, on the floor backing up in fear. She had a large bruise on her face. Matthew was looming over her grabbed her by the arm roughly, bringing out another cry from the child.

"I told you to stay upstairs, you little brat. Why can't you follow the simplest directions!" Matthew yelled.

"I'm sorry. I was thirsty," the girl cried.

Matthew raised his free hand to strike her, but he didn't get the chance.

Lucifer grabbed the man before he could hit the child. He took him by the neck and slammed him into the kitchen table. His eyes were blazing red and he barely noticed as the girl hid behind the counter.

Matthew gasped in fear and spoke as well as he could with the pressure on his throat. "What are you?"

Lucifer smiled maliciously at the man. "You tried to make a deal with the Devil, Davis. This is the result!"

Matthew trembled in fear as he was picked up off the table and punched repeatedly in the stomach.

"Maze," Lucifer called as he gestured to the slime on the ground.

Maze went over and slammed her foot down on his stomach, causing the man yell out in pain.

"Let me go!" Matthew yelled.

"You reached out to the wrong man. I don't deal with child abusers. I am going to personally see to it that you never harm another child again!" Lucifer said. His eyes then reached the child's, who was still hiding. His eyes were still red, so he expected the child would run when she saw him. She didn't.

The girl looked at the man who'd just helped her. His eyes made him look like a monster, but she knew he couldn't be. A monster wouldn't have helped her. He had to be a hero. Heroes helped people. All she knew was that she was safe with this man around, and she wanted to feel safe.

Lucifer watched both in shock and horror as the child ran up to him and hugged his legs. He just stood there for a minute, unsure how to react. He expected fear, but what he got was this child attaching herself to him. He soon went from shocked to unnerved. He was extremely uncomfortable with this small person touching him the way she was. "Um, you can let go now, okay?"

She didn't let him go. She only hugged him tighter.

Maze snickered as she watched Lucifer. He just stood there awkwardly as this little person hugged him. He didn't touch her or even move. He seemed afraid to. The Devil himself was scared of a kid.

"Do you have a name or anything?" Lucifer asked.

"B…Beatrice," the girl said shakily.

"Very well, Beatrice. Will you let go of me now?" Lucifer asked.

Beatrice shook her head and kept a firm grip on his leg.

"As hilarious as this is, what do you intend to do about this?" Maze asked Lucifer.

Lucifer wasn't entirely sure about that himself. He wanted to murder Davis, but he also wanted him to suffer first. Oh, he'd suffer in Hell, but it wasn't quite enough. "This vermin is yours, Mazikeen, but do not kill him. When you're done, I will find a particularly miserable place for him to live out his days. Then I will personally arrange the worst Hell possible."

Maze rubbed her hands together and smirked as if it was Christmas. The only parameter she was given was not to kill him. She could have so much fun. "And what about the kid?"

That, Lucifer had no idea about. All he did know was that he was not leaving the child where she was. Very awkwardly, Lucifer reached down and lifted the young girl into his arms. The child immediately latched onto him and buried her face in his shoulders. The awkwardness that Lucifer felt only got worse.

Lucifer looked back down at Davis maliciously. "I have decided to take care of your… _problem_ after all. I do hope you're happy with the results," he snarled before carrying the child out of the room.


	3. Chapter 3

Lucifer sat watching as the child, Beatrice, sat on the couch watching some cartoon that Lucifer had managed to find for her to watch. She hadn't said much since he brought her back to his penthouse the day before. She was very quiet, probably fearing punishment if she bothered anyone.

Lucifer honestly wasn't sure why he brought her home with him. He ought to have calling in the authorities and let them take the child, but there wasn't any guarantee that the girl wouldn't be put in an even worse than the one he'd removed her from. There were many humans as bad as and worse than Davis was.

' _That's not your problem,'_ a loud voice in Lucifer's head said. He was the Devil. He was not responsible for some human child's parentage bad luck. He wasn't even sure why he cared. He'd never cared that much about a human before. There were certainly many humans he enjoyed, very many. He would even say he liked a few he considered himself friendly with, but not to this extent. Why did he care what happened to this small human.

Lucifer was actually surprised by how quick the answer came to him. Beatrice had seen almost all of him. He hadn't shown her his devil face, but he'd inadvertently showed her his eyes. Most that he showed that to went insane, or at least ran screaming. Beatrice did not. Much to his chagrin, she clung to him as if he was some sort of savior, which he supposed he was to her, but she wasn't supposed to react that way. No one ever had.

Lucifer's thoughts were interrupted by the ding of the elevator, which caused the child to whimper a bit. "Calm down. It's not your father. He will never harm you again."

Maze stepped off the elevator moments later with a satisfied grin on her face. It wasn't often she got to play with a human. She'd enjoyed messing with Davis.

Lucifer approached her. "Well?"

"That was fun. He was begging by the time I was done. I handed him over to Dante, like you requested," Maze said.

"Excellent," Lucifer said. Dante was a man with many resources and questionable ethics that owed Lucifer more than one favor. He could make the rest of Davis' life hell without killing him. It wouldn't be anything too severe. The man would likely find him in some sort of maximum security prison somewhere for life. It was much more lenient than the scum deserved.

Maze glanced over towards the kid. "You still have her? I figured you'd have ditched her with the cops by now."

"Yes, and how exactly am I to explain how I acquired the spawn?" Lucifer asked.

"Oh, please. You're the Devil, you can find a way," Maze said. She then noticed as the kid wandered over towards where Lucifer kept his alcohol. "Uh, Lucifer, turn around."

Lucifer turned and watched as the child reached for a bottle of his scotch. "Bloody hell she's fast! Child, no! Stop."

Beatrice retreated cried out in fear before putting her hands over her face. "No! Don't hit me! I'm sorry!"

Lucifer winced. He hadn't meant to frighten the child. "Don't cry, Urchin. I'm not going to hurt you. No one will hurt you. You have my word.

Beatrice stopped crying and lowered her arms, but she still seemed frightened.

Lucifer looked around to find something to calm the child. He noticed a stuffed bear on the couch and immediately went to grab it. He'd had one of his bartenders pick up some things that children might find enjoyable. The bear was one of those things. Lucifer didn't understand how something so simple could possibly make a child happy, but the child seemed to like it. "Look. You can play with this. It's yours."

Beatrice reached out and took the offered toy bear. She hugged it to her and went back and sat on the couch.

Lucifer went back over to Maze. "Yeah, you really should call someone. You have no idea what you're doing. Do you even know how old the kid is?"

"The file Davis put together said she was four. She looks awfully small to be four, don't you think?" Lucifer asked. Of course, he had no idea what a four-year-old was supposed to look like, so that might be why. Though, it might also be not being cared for properly by her bloody parents. "I don't know what to do with her. Turning her over to Social Services might see her in a worse situation."

"What do you care?" Maze asked. She got Lucifer intervening when he watched a kid being abused. He was the Devil. He wasn't going to sit back while a human committed such an act, but once he rescued the kid, Maze would've thought that would be the end.

"I gave that child my word no one would hurt her again. I don't go back on my word. That's why, Mazikeen," Lucifer said in a low tone. "I will look into whether or not the child has any relatives and determine if they are suitable."

"She must have a mother, right?" Maze asked.

"According to the records Davis provided me with, his wife has been dead for a year. I suppose it could be a lie, but if so, she is likely unsuitable given that she allowed the child to be abused, and probably knew about her husband trying to see her," Lucifer said angrily. Thinking about what that bastard had done and planned to do with the girl made his devil face want to pop out.

"Well, you have to do something. You're obviously not gonna keep the kid," Maze said a bit loudly.

Having heard them talking, Beatrice ran over and hugged Lucifer's legs.

Lucifer stiffened as he felt the child grab him. He groaned and looked down at her. "We're doing this again? You were fine watching TV. Can't you go do that?"

"Don't make me leave," Beatrice begged. She didn't want to go. She liked the man who saved her, even if she had been afraid before that he might hit her. He was nicer to her than anyone had ever been. She didn't want to leave.

"Child…" Lucifer trailed off. He didn't know what to say to her. He didn't even know why she'd want to stay with him. There were hundreds of people that would be better than him. Then again, there were also just as many that were worse than him.

"Please. I'll be good. I wanna stay here," Beatrice said.

"Why?" Lucifer asked.

"Because you're nice. You saved me," Beatrice said as she hugged him tighter.

"I… Very well," Lucifer said before he could stop himself.

"Promise?" she asked.

Everything in Lucifer said not to agree to that, because once he promised, he would not go back on it. He did not break promises, ever. It was the same as lying. He would not tell his first lie to a child. So, if he promised, he'd have to keep it, which was why he knew he should not promise. And yet, once again, he couldn't stop the words from leaving his lips. "Yes, I promise."


	4. Chapter 4

Lucifer was getting breakfast ready for Beatrice before he had to take her to school. It had been three years since he promised not to leave her. Naturally, he kept that promise. There was never any other possibility once he’d voiced the words. He didn’t break his promises. Interestingly enough though, he never regretted it. It certainly wasn’t easy acclimating his life to suit a child, especially considering his personal distaste for them, but he found that it wasn’t nearly as difficult as he expected. He found very quickly that he loved that child, and love wasn’t an emotion he’d allowed himself to feel in a long time.

“Come on, Beatrice. We need to leave soon,” Lucifer called as he put a bowl of oatmeal that he’d made from scratch and a glass of orange juice on the table.

Young feet could be hard rushing in moments later. “Sorry, Daddy.

Lucifer smiled slightly. Beatrice had begun calling him ‘daddy’ about six months after she’d begun living with him. He was caught off-guard when she said, but also incredibly pleased. “Sit and eat. I’ll be getting you to school a few minutes early. I have to be somewhere.” He did not trust the police to find Delilah’s killer, or even to really look, so he would be handling it himself. “Maze may have to pick you up from school.”

“Maze isn’t allowed to go to my school anymore, remember?” Beatrice asked with a grin as she remembered the last time Maze had picked her up. There were a couple of kids that kept making fun of her. Maze had gone over and threatened them if they bothered her again. Beatrice had loved it. The bullies didn’t bother her anymore, and the incident made her a couple of friends who thought Maze was cool. The principle wasn’t as happy though and neither were those kids’ parents. Maze wasn’t allowed back at school.

Lucifer sighed. “Yes, of course. Well, then I will likely be dropping you off her with her and going out again afterwards.”

“Okay. Will you be home for bedtime?” Beatrice asked as she began eating her breakfast. 

“Yes, of course. You have my word,” Lucifer said.

Beatrice nodded and kept eating.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Chloe didn’t know what she’d gotten herself into. What in the world had she been thinking allowing a civilian club owner who claimed to be the Devil into her car to work on a case with her? Admittedly though, a lead he’d given her had checked out, and it was important to find Delilah’s killer. Everything Lucifer Morningstar had done to find her killer worked pretty well so far. Still, she feared she’d regret this alliance. Everything she knew about this guy so far said he was at best, a complete ass. At worst, he was certifiable, but again, he appeared to be useful.

In the back of the detective’s car, Lucifer checked his watch. He noticed that it was about time for Beatrice to be leaving school. “Bloody hell. Detective, I’m going to have to ask you to take a bit of a detour.”

“Excuse me?” Chloe asked. 

“I’m afraid I’m a bit late for something of great importance,” Lucifer said.

“Really? And what’s that?” Chloe asked. 

“Could you take a left up here?” Lucifer asked.

Chloe sighed and made the turn. “I swear, if you’re playing games with me, I will arrest you.

Lucifer continued to direct her until they were in front of a large school.

Chloe looked at Lucifer in shock when she saw where they were. “You can’t possibly have…”

“I’ll be right back,” Lucifer interrupted before getting out of the car. 

Chloe watched where he left in disbelief. Could Lucifer Morningstar really have a kid? He did not seem like the fatherly type. He didn’t seem like the kid type at all actually. He was the playboy type from all the flirting he did, not the family type. Maybe he was picking up a relative’s kid. That would make a little more sense.

Chloe watched kids came and went with their parents sadly. She should be one of them. She should be picking up her own child right now instead of watching other parents get theirs. It had been five years since she’d seen her daughter. There had never been any leads on what happened to Trixie. She just disappeared. Honestly, that was worse than finding out something terrible happened to her daughter. Chloe went through every day just imagining the horrors that could’ve befallen her daughter. It was terrible.

Chloe pulled out of her thoughts as the backdoor opened again. 

“Go on,” Lucifer urged his daughter.

Beatrice hopped in the backseat and moved over.

Chloe looked back at the child in her rearview mirror, and her heart skipped a beat. The girl looked the same age as her own daughter would be and had the same general features. It was certainly enough to sadden her, but she hid it and smiled at the girl. “Hi there.”

“Beatrice, this is Detective Decker,” Lucifer said as he got back in.

Chloe flinched at the name. It seemed the universe was trying to torture today, by also having this child have the same name as her daughter. A small part of her wanted the coincidences to be more than that, but she knew better than to hope for that. No, the world just seemed to hate her.

“Hi. My daddy’s not getting arrested, is he?” Beatrice asked.

“No, honey. He’s just helping me with something,” Chloe said. Well, one mystery was solved. The kid really was Lucifer’s. It was shocking, but decided it probably shouldn’t be. It wasn’t like she knew Lucifer really well. They’d just met. 

“Seatbelt, Beatrice,” Lucifer told her.

Beatrice immediately reached for the seatbelt next to her and buckled it over herself. 

“I’ll need to drop her off back at Lux,” Lucifer said.

“You wanna bring a kid to a nightclub?” Chloe asked in disbelief as she began driving.

“My penthouse is upstairs. It has a private entrance,” Lucifer said.

“Daddy never lets me in the club when it’s open,” Beatrice grumbled.

“That’s probably because Daddy knows it’s illegal,” Chloe said.

“Are you my daddy’s friend?” Beatrice asked.

“Um, I don’t…” Chloe started before Lucifer interrupted.

“Of course. The detective and I are going to be the best of friends,” Lucifer said with a wink.

“In your dreams,” Chloe said quietly.

It wasn’t long before they arrived at Lux. Lucifer directed Chloe into the parking garage before taking Beatrice’s bag from her. “Come on. Maze is waiting in the house.”

“You will be home to read to me, right?” Trixie asked.

“Yes, I promised you I’d be home before you went to sleep. I’ve never broken a promise,” Lucifer said.

“I know,” she said.

Chloe watched them. It was nice to see a father actually attentive to his child, like her own father had been. It reminded her of everything Dan wasn’t to their child. Needless to say, Chloe had not forgiven Dan for his carelessness and neglect. Dan’s actions had led to them losing their child. Not to mention that Dan had barely been around even before that day. Chloe never forgave him. She never would forgive him. Their marriage hadn’t even lasted another year after Trixie disappeared. Chloe could barely stand the sight of him after it happened. She barely tolerated working with him at the precinct. 

“Bye, Detective,” Beatrice said. 

Chloe forced a smile on her face for the little girl. “Bye, Beatrice. It was nice meeting you.”

Lucifer and Beatrice got out of the car and headed for the entrance.


	5. Chapter 5

Chloe made her onto the elevator at Lux and pushed the button for the penthouse to pick up her partner for their latest case. Lucifer had been consulting for the department as her consultant for almost two months now. When Lucifer first became a consultant, Chloe was sure it would be terrible, but it wasn't nearly as bad as she thought it would be. Lucifer could be a loose cannon at times with suspects, and he took very little serious, but she had to admit that he was good at it. They'd solved a lot of homicides since they began working together.

Chloe stepped off the elevator and into the penthouse. The first thing she saw was Lucifer's daughter sitting on the couch watching TV. Seeing Beatrice made her smile every time, but also made her want to collapse in tears. That little girl reminded her so much of all that she'd lost. She imagined Trixie every time she saw her. It was impossible not to. They had the same name and general facial features, and they were around the same age. Despite all logic telling Chloe that all those things were coincidences, Chloe had not been able to stop herself from having hope, especially when she learned that Beatrice was adopted.

Chloe had done a bit of history on Lucifer. She'd had one of the few colleagues that didn't hate guts do a simple background check on him after the case with Delilah wrapped up. That was how she found out that he had adopted Beatrice. Her heart skipped a beat then, but that was also when she found out Beatrice was four when she was adopted and that her biological father was an acquaintance of Lucifer's that left the child with him when she was four. There were birth records to prove it. Any hope went out the window, which was why Chloe didn't want to hope. She just couldn't help herself.

Beatrice waved at Chloe. "Hi, Detective Decker."

"Hi, Beatrice. You can call me 'Chloe', okay?" Chloe said with a smile. While she found it somewhat painful, she also took some comfort in being around Beatrice. She was a wonderful little girl.

"Okay, Chloe. Are you and my daddy going to work?" Beatrice asked.

"Yeah. I'll make sure he comes home soon though," Chloe promised.

"I know he'll be back soon. He promised we could go out for ice cream after Dinner. Daddy keeps his promises," Beatrice said confidently.

Chloe smiled. "That's great. It's important for people to keep promises."

"I know. You could come with us. Daddy would be okay with it," Beatrice said.

"What would I be okay with, my little urchin?" Lucifer asked affectionately.

Beatrice turned to her father. "Can Chloe come out to have ice cream with us?"

"I hope she told you it was okay to use her name," Lucifer said firmly. He'd be the first to admit that he was far from the most respectful, but he was to those who deserved it. He called Chloe by her title because she'd earned the right to be addressed that way. She was an excellent detective.

"She did. Can she come with us?" Beatrice asked.

"Certainly. If she wishes," Lucifer said.

"Um, I'm not sure. I might have more work to do, but I'll try," Chloe told the little girl. She didn't want to disappoint her, but she also didn't want to make a promise she might not be able to keep. She wouldn't be able to go if she still had work to do.

"Okay. I hope you can come," Beatrice's said.

Just then, Maze stepped off the elevator. "Come on, little human. You and I are gonna go see that movie you've been raving about since it came out."

"Beatrice's eyes lit up. "Yes! Thanks, Maze!"

"Well, this way I don't have to hear about it anymore," Maze said.

Beatrice went over and hugged her father. "Bye, Daddy."

"Goodbye, Spawn. I will see you in a few hours."

"Bye, Chloe ," she said with a wave before running off to get her shoes.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Chloe was a bit discouraged as she sat at her desk. There were no leads on their homicide, a woman stabbed to death in her apartment. She and Lucifer had interviewed the woman's ex-boyfriend, their only real suspect, but it had been a dead end. He'd had an alibi. Now they were back to square one.

Lucifer arrived moments later with two cups of coffee. He offered one to the detective. "Here you are, Detective."

Chloe took the offered cup. "Thanks. You can head out. It's almost six thirty. Go take your daughter for ice cream."

"Join us. As we both said, we'd be happy to have you," Lucifer said.

"I can't. There's too much to do here," Chloe said. Lucifer's position with the department was much more flexible than hers. He had the ability to come and go more freely. She didn't hold that against him for doing so in cases like this. She thought it was great that he was so attentive to his daughter.

"I'm sure you can take a small break," Lucifer said.

Chloe shook her head. "I can't. Tell Beatrice that I'll come another time."

"Very well. I will see you in the morning, Detective," Lucifer said. He turned to leave and came face to face with Detective Daniel Espinoza, otherwise known by Lucifer as Detective Douche.

"You're leaving. You have an active case and your ducking out?" Dan asked.

"Dan, get out of here. This has nothing to do with you. It's not your case," Chloe said.

"No, but he's supposed to be consult with the department, though I don't know what the lieutenant was thinking when she agreed to that. He should have his priorities straight," Dan said.

"Oh, they are quite straight, Detective Douche. My first priority is my daughter, and I promised to take her for ice cream," Lucifer said with a glare.

Dan's mouth gaped open in shock. "Your what? You've got a kid?"

"Indeed, and she comes first," Lucifer said.

"As it should be. Don't mind Dan, Lucifer. He can't understand what it means to put a child first," Chloe couldn't help but say bitterly.

"Yes, that is obvious. It's probably just as well that Detective Douche remains childless," Lucifer said.

Chloe flinched, but quickly covered it up. Lucifer didn't know about Trixie and she preferred he didn't. He would try to talk to her about it, and she would rather not. It was very painful to talk about.

"Screw you," Dan said.

"No, not even I would go there with you. Now, I need to go," Lucifer said before walking away.

"I can't believe he has a kid. The guy's a complete ass. Plus the whole devil thing would completely mess a kid up. I feel sorry for the kid," Dan said.

Chloe laughed bitterly. "You think you have any room to judge another person's parenting skills?"

Dan groaned. "Chloe, don't do this."

"Yeah, you don't like being reminded of the truth do you. Maybe you should've kept your idiotic, hypocritical thoughts to yourself then. You know, I haven't known Lucifer long, but in the time I have, he's been more attentive to his child than you ever were ours. And if nothing else, he at least knows were his kid is. Because of you, we'll never know where ours is," Chloe said angrily. She barely kept the tears from her eyes.

"When are you going to let it go, Chloe? When are you going to stop hating me for that day. It was a mistake that anyone could've made. I would take it back if I could," Dan said. Honestly, he didn't even really think it was his fault. Yes, he wasn't paying a lot of attention, but he could he know that his kid would just walk out the door when he wasn't looking. He'd fallen asleep after having a couple of beers with Malcolm. He didn't know this would happen.

"Never," Chloe said bluntly, not even bothering to respond to the last half of his statement. She did not agree that anyone could make the same mistake. Not everyone would be so reckless and careless. Not everyone would drink while watching their kid and not notice that she was gone for possibly hours. "I will never stop hating you. My daughter is gone because of you."

Dan merely sighed before walking away.


	6. Chapter 6

Lucifer walked out of his room wearing a tuxedo. He was doing a favor for someone by attending a banquet with her. It wasn't the sort of favor he typically did, but the woman was well connected. He could do well to have her owe him one down the line. Still, he wasn't looking forward to it. This wasn't exactly his kind of party, and this sort of favor was very below his standards.

When Lucifer walked into the living room, he found Beatrice sprawled out on the couch playing with a doll. "Beatrice, you're supposed to be in the kitchen doing your schoolwork."

"Can't I do it right before bed?" Beatrice asked.

"No, because you'll be too tired then. It's six now. You can do it now and still have a little time to watch TV or play a game," Lucifer told her. He didn't like being the bad guy, but he'd learned over the years that sometimes he had to be. For the first several months, he didn't really parent her. He took care of her, but he didn't admonish or discipline her. That had ended in disaster until he'd laid down some rules and followed through. It had been very difficult to do that, but necessary. Thankfully, the child rarely gave him reason to punish her since then.

Soon, the elevator dinged. Chloe came off seconds later. "Hey, guys."

Beatrice perked up a bit. "Hi, Chloe."

"Hey, sweetheart," Chloe said with a smile.

Lucifer walked over to her. "Hello, Detective. Thank you for doing this. Maze is otherwise engaged tonight."

"Yeah, no problem," Chloe said.

"She's already had dinner. There's chocolate cake in the fridge that she may have a piece of. Provided that she finishes her homework without further complaint," Lucifer said. He said the last part loudly for his daughter's benefit. "You can feel free to have some as well, Detective, as well as anything else you desire."

"Thanks. We'll be okay," Chloe said.

"One other thing. Beatrice has nightmares at times, especially when I'm not there to put her to put her to bed. If it happens and you can't calm her, call me. I will come back immediately," Lucifer said.

Chloe smiled at him. It was sweet seeing him in protective parent mode, and kind of funny because she was sure he'd laugh at anyone else he saw like this. "It'll be fine. Now go."

"Okay, but do not hesitate to call me away if need be. I promise, you won't be ruining anything if you do. Father knows I don't even want to go to this bloody thing," Lucifer said.

Chloe laughed in response.

Lucifer turned to his daughter. "Beatrice, you behave for the detective."

"I will, Daddy," Beatrice promised.

"You will go finish your homework once I leave," Lucifer said sternly.

"Okay," Beatrice said with a groan. She then got up and hugged her father briefly.

"Alright, I'll see you in the morning," Lucifer said before heading for the elevator.

Once Lucifer was gone, Chloe smiled at Beatrice. "How about I see if I can help you with your homework? Then you can get into your pajamas and we can watch a movie and dig into that chocolate cake."

"Okay," Beatrice said before leading the way into the kitchen.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

After helping her with her homework and watching a movie, Chloe went with Beatrice to her room to get her ready for bed.

Beatrice jumped up on her bed bad and grabbed her teddy bear. "This is my favorite stuffed animal. His name's Max. Daddy gave him to me right after I came to live here."

"Really? That's really cool. Does he help you sleep?" Chloe said as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"Uh huh. I don't go to sleep without him. I also have Miss Alien," Beatrice said as she picked up the next toy. She's my third favorite. I'm going to be the president of Mars one day and she's gonna be my assistant.

"Wow. The president of Mars. That's a big job. I bet you'll do great though," Chloe said as she smiled at the little girl. "What's your second favorite? You said she was your third favorite toy."

"I'll show you, but you have to keep him a secret. Do you promise?" Beatrice asked.

"Of course," Chloe said. A secret toy didn't seem like much cause for concern in her eyes. She imagined kids liked to think they had secrets. It made them feel grown up. She doubted this secret was really a secret.

Beatrice went over to her toybox. She dug around until she found what she was looking for. She came back with a black dog. "This is Sam."

Chloe smiled. "Hi, Sam. That's a cool name."

"My grandpa named him. He said he was strong like my daddy and would help protect me. That's why he has to be a secret. Daddy would be upset if he knew he came to visit," Beatrice said. Her grandpa hadn't actually told her to keep it a secret, but Beatrice knew to. She knew her daddy would be mad.

"Your grandpa comes to see you without your dad knowing," Chloe said alarmed. Now she wished she hadn't promised. She couldn't keep that a secret. Some guy was coming to see this kid while her father knew nothing about it. For all Chloe knew, this wasn't really Lucifer's father, and even if he was, who knew what his intentions were. Lucifer did not speak well of his father.

"Yeah. He's only come a couple of times. He's really busy. He flies into my room when I'm in bed," Beatrice told her.

"He flies?" Chloe asked. She relaxed quite a bit. This seemed more like an imaginary friend type of thing, though she'd never heard of a kid imagining a grandparent. Beatrice was probably just curious and made up a loving grandparent. Obviously no one was flying into her bedroom.

"Yeah. He's got a lot of powers. One of them is flying. He has to come in secret though because he and Daddy had a big fight. You'll keep it a secret, right?" Beatrice asked.

Chloe nodded. She was positive now that this guy was a figment of Beatrice's imagination. She was merely curious about her grandfather and made him up. A part of her thought maybe Lucifer should be aware, but she had promised, and it wasn't hurting anyone for Beatrice to have an imaginary friend. "Okay, I we need to get you settled into bed."

"I'm gonna put Sam away first," Beatrice said before running over and putting the stuffed animal back in the toybox. She then went back over and got into bed. "I wish Daddy was here. He makes sure the monsters stay away. He's the Devil, so he gets rid of them. He made my other dad go away when he was hurting me."

The little girl's words broke Chloe's heart. She knew the child had been abandoned by her biological parents, but not abused. No child should feel unsafe with their own parents. "Well, maybe I can keep them away too. You know what my job is, right?"

"Uh huh. You punish the bad guys, like my daddy," Beatrice said.

"That's right. The bad guys wouldn't dare hurt you with me around. In fact, look at this," Chloe said before taking her badge off. She'd come right from the station, so she still had it on. "Bad guys are scared of this."

"Really?" Beatrice asked.

"Yeah. A lot of them run as soon as they see it," Chloe said. It was the truth. Criminals who knew they did something wrong often ran when they saw a badge. "How about I leave it with you until your daddy comes home? The monsters will know they can't just mess with you because your daddy's not home."

"Okay. Thank you," Beatrice said with relief in her voice. She then picked up a book from the table next to her. "Will you read me a story now?"

"Of course," Chloe said before putting her badge on the table and taking the book. She cuddled up next to Beatrice and started reading.


	7. Chapter 7

Chloe was sitting at her desk doing some paperwork. As it was Saturday, most of the precinct wasn't there, which she liked. She preferred working with just a few others, especially when she had paperwork, Of course, one of the few others there was Dan, which made her less than thrilled, but she'd grown accustomed to ignoring him whenever possible.

"Chloe!" a young voice called out.

Chloe looked up and smiled when she saw Lucifer and Beatrice coming her way. Beatrice was carrying a big stuffed panda bear. "Hey, you guys. I didn't expect to see you."

"I asked Daddy if we could come see you on our way home. We went to the fair today. Daddy said we could do anything I wanted today since he's had to work a lot more lately," Beatrice said.

"Yes, that was my first mistake. That place was awful. There were so many little beasts there," Lucifer said with a shudder.

"You mean the other children, don't you?" Chloe asked. She'd learned early on in their partnership that, despite having one of his own, Lucifer wasn't a big fan of kids. His exact words to her were, 'I like _my_ child, Detective.' It was funny because he was a very good father from what she'd seen.

"Of course," Lucifer said as though it should be obvious.

"Look what I won," Beatrice said as she held up her new toy.

"Wow, that's great. You won it by yourself?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah. It took me a lot of tries though," Beatrice said.

"Well, it looks like it was worth the effort," Chloe said.

The three of them didn't notice Dan looking on from his desk. He was furious. An outsider would think the three of them were a family, but they weren't. Morningstar and his kid were not Chloe's family and it pissed him off to watch her pretend that they were.

Dan angrily approached them. "Hey, Morningstar. Does this look like a playground to you? Your kid doesn't belong here."

"I don't believe anyone asked your opinion, Detective Douche," Lucifer said before turning back to the detective and his child, not giving the idiot behind him another thought.

Chloe glared at Dan for a minute before smiling back at Beatrice. "Don't listen to him, sweetheart. Your daddy can bring you to see me anytime."

"Nice, Chloe. You know, this isn't your kid. You can't just replace our daughter with someone else's brat. And this bastard's kid would be a poor imitation!" Dan snarled.

Beatrice grabbed her father's hand tightly and hid behind him. This man was really mean. He reminded her of her old dad. He used to call her a brat too and he yelled a lot before he hit her.

Chloe was shaking from the pain and rage going through her body. She could punch Dan, and if there wasn't a child present, she would've. How dare he accuse her of trying to replace her child? How dare he even mention their little girl? He never gave a damn enough to even pay attention to her when they had her. That was exactly why they no longer had her. And to do so while also frightening another child was reprehensible.

Lucifer was surprised to hear that the detective had and had lost a child, but that surprise was immediately replaced by fury. He was furious that not only had this bastard had publicized something that the detective obviously wanted to keep as private as possible, not to mention shaming her about it, but he'd also insulted and frightened Lucifer's child. That would not be tolerated.

Lucifer squeezed his daughter's hand to let her know everything was okay. His eyes, however, never left Detective Douche. They flashed red just for a second. It wasn't long enough for anyone to realize. Anyone who saw would just think it was a trick of the light. When he finally spoke, he was eerily calm. "Listen carefully, Detective Douche. You will never speak to the detective that way again. You will never dare to such a painful event against her again."

"Screw you!" Dan yelled.

"And if you ever speak of my daughter in such away again, I will personally send you to hell!" Lucifer snarled. The bastard should be grateful Beatrice was present. If she hadn't been, Lucifer would ensure Detective Douche didn't walk for a week.

"Daddy, I wanna go home," Beatrice cried as she clung to his hand.

"You should go, Lucifer. Take her home," Chloe said.

Lucifer was hesitant. He didn't want to leave the detective, but Beatrice was scared, and she was his first priority. "Very well. Come on, my urchin," he said before picking Beatrice up into his arms and heading out.

Once she was sure Lucifer and Beatrice were gone, Chloe turned to Dan and backhanded him hard across the face. "Don't you ever throw Trixie in my face! Don't even mention her again! You have no right! You never gave a damn about her!"

Dan opened his mouth to speak.

"And she was not 'our' daughter. She was mine. You proved how little she meant to you. You don't have the right to claim her anymore!" Chloe snapped before walking away.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Lucifer sat down in his living room with a glass of whiskey. It took quite a lot to get Beatrice to go to sleep tonight. The incident at the police station had greatly traumatized her. No doubt, it reminded her of her life prior to being put in his care. Beatrice did well most days, but sometimes, he was reminded just how much damage that bastard had done to her.

Lucifer was actually seriously considering having his therapist sit down with Beatrice for a few sessions. Linda had suggested it when he told her about his child, but he was still unsure. He wasn't sure if it might make things worse to speak of it.

Lucifer soon her the elevator ding. He turned to see the detective enter. He immediately stood up. "Detective. I didn't expect you. Can I offer you a drink?"

"Hi. Yeah, that would be great," Chloe said. She could use several drinks right now.

Lucifer immediately got up and poured her a drink, as well as pouring himself another. He brought it over to her.

"Thank you," Chloe said as she took the offered drink from him.

"Are you alright? I apologize for leaving you with Detective Douche. I didn't want to," Lucifer said as he led the way over to the couch and sat down.

"Don't be ridiculous. You had to take care of your daughter. I can handle Dan anyways. How is Beatrice, by the way. I could tell she was frightened," Chloe said before taking a seat next to him.

"Yes. Your ex reminded her a bit of her biological father. I'm sure you deduced by now that I adopted Beatrice," Lucifer said. She'd dug into his past, so she would know that he wasn't the child's biological father.

"Yeah, I found out when I was looking into you. The girl's biological father gave her to you when she was four," Chloe said.

Lucifer nodded. That was the story he'd told social services, and it wasn't a lie. Davis had asked him to take the child. Lucifer had just omitted what Davis wanted done with her and what he'd done to him. "He was a bastard. He abused her."

"Yeah, Beatrice mentioned a little about him when I watched her for you. It makes me sick and furious to think about how a parent could do that," Chloe said with a disgusted look on her face.

"Yes, I feel the same. I imagine it makes you even more furious given what you've lost," Lucifer said.

Chloe closed her eyes sadly. She knew she was going to have to explain. That was one of the reasons she'd come. Lucifer was eventually going to ask, and she wanted to get it all over with. "My daughter was two the last time I saw her. Her name was Trixie."

Normally Lucifer would point out what an awful idea that was for a name, as it was something a hooker would call themselves, but as I parent, he knew it wouldn't be appropriate now. Normally, he didn't care about being appropriate, but he knew how the detective had to be feeling.

"I was working. Trixie was home with Dan. I should've been there. I should've called out or something. I could've said I was sick," Chloe said in a broken voice.

"Detective, I don't know what happened, but I know you would've been there if you'd known something was going to happen to your child. What did Detective Douche do?" Lucifer asked. He was pretty sure that Daniel was responsible. He was home with the child. Plus, the way the detective seemed to despise him said that something awful had happened between them. Many divorced couples hated each other, but the detective could barely tolerate her ex's presence.

Chloe laughed bitterly. "I think what he didn't do was worse than what he did, and it was throughout Trixie's whole life. He wasn't ever really there for her. When she was born, he was working. He didn't answer his phone when I called him to come to the hospital. That was only the beginning though. He was rarely around. He cared more about work. Don't get me wrong, I know that this job is important. I even understand that occasionally it has to take precedence, but he did it all the time. He never put us first."

"Then he was a fool. That isn't very surprising though. Detective, I believe I owe you an apology. I while back, I said it was best that Detective Douche not have children…"

"You didn't know, Lucifer, and you weren't wrong. I loved my daughter and I wouldn't wish her away for anything, but I wish she had a different father. If she'd had a father like you, I'd probably still have her," Chloe cried.

Lucifer put his hand on top of hers.

"Like I said, Dan was supposed to be looking after Trixie that day. He wasn't too interested in that though. He invited another cop over and was drinking and watching TV with him. They left the door open and feel asleep," Chloe said angrily.

Lucifer sighed. He could imagine the rest. He'd learned quickly that children were fast. If you took your eyes off for even a minute, they would be into something. It sounded like Detective Douche had neglected his child for much longer than that. The child went out the door and either wasn't found, or it was too late when they did find her. "Did they find her?"

Chloe shook her head. "I think that's even worse, you know? I don't want to imagine her being… But I think I could at least get out of this limbo."

Lucifer could imagine what she was going through. It would kill him if anything happened to Beatrice. It would be worse than when he was kicked out of Heaven. It would be worse than anything. He could also imagine the awful things the detective must be thinking about. He'd seen how awful humans could be. Davis, and what he'd done to Beatrice was a good example. "I'm so sorry, Detective."

Chloe leaned into his arms and started crying hard.


	8. Chapter 8

Chloe woke up the next morning in an unfamiliar room. She wasn't sure where she was until she thought back and remembered being at the penthouse with Lucifer. She must have fallen asleep to Lucifer comforting her because the last thing she remembered was crying in his arms. It actually felt good to lose herself and let someone else comfort her. She hadn't really had that before. She'd refused to let Dan comfort her. He was the reason she lost Trixie. Her mother had tried, but she had never been good at that. Plus, they had never been that close. Chloe had always felt that she was dealing with Trixie's loss by herself.

Chloe soon heard the bedroom door open. She expected Lucifer, but it was Beatrice there instead. Chloe immediately sat up a little and smiled at the little girl. "Hey."

"Hi, Chloe. Daddy said you slept over," Beatrice said as she made her way over.

"Yeah, I guess so," Chloe said.

"That's really cool. Daddy never has sleep overs," she said.

That didn't surprise Chloe as much as it probably should've. Lucifer was a big flirt. She was pretty sure he slept with anyone that was up for it, but he wouldn't bring that home to his daughter. He obviously took all his dates elsewhere. "Yeah, well, I was kind of sad, and your dad was helping me with that."

"Were you sad because of that man yesterday?" Beatrice asked.

"Yeah. I don't really like him. Are you okay? I know he really scared you," Chloe said.

Beatrice nodded. "He was mean, like my old dad was. He called me mean names and yelled the way that man did."

"That man will never hurt you. No one will hurt you again. Your daddy wouldn't let anyone and neither will I," Chloe said. She cared about this child very much. It wasn't how Dan tried to make it out to be though. Yes, she saw Trixie in Beatrice sometimes, but that wasn't why she cared about her. She cared about her because she was a wonderful little girl. She cared about this child as her own person.

"I know. Sometimes I get scared anyway though. That man said you had a little girl. Do you?" Beatrice asked.

Chloe smiled sadly. "Yeah, I do. She's lost though. I want you to know that what he said isn't true. I miss my baby, but I don't like you because of her. I like you for you."

Beatrice smiled and hugged Chloe. "I like you too, Chloe. I wish you were my mommy."

Chloe's heart melted at those words. They were so heart wrenching, in more ways than one. "Well, your daddy and I are really good friends, so I'll always be here if you need something."

"Cool," Beatrice said before pulling away.

Soon, they both heard voices from the other room.

"Someone's here. Maybe it's Maze," Beatrice said before running from the room to hopefully greet the demon.

Chloe got up and followed her out. They both stopped in the kitchen doorway when they saw who was with Lucifer. Chloe recognized the man as Lucifer's brother. She met him once when she and Lucifer were trying to retrieve Lucifer's missing property.

"That's Amenadiel." Beatrice whispered in an unimpressed tone. She'd met her father's brother many times. She didn't like him at all. "He's mean. He calls Daddy bad names and tries to make him leave me. He got this lady to come visit once to try to take me away."

Chloe vaguely remembered from Lucifer's file that he'd received a visit from Social Services that didn't amount to anything. Amenadiel must have been the one to make that happen. She could hardly believe that Lucifer's own brother had tried to have his child taken away. She knew they weren't very close, but that was still reprehensible. Anyone who saw Lucifer and Beatrice had to know he'd never do anything that would harm that little girl.

"Aren't you tired of this tedious game, brother," Lucifer asked in a bored tone.

"Infinitely, and this is not a game," Amenadiel said irritably.

"And yet, you insist on persisting. You come down here and insist I leave. I say no, and you leave in a huff. Why not save us both the hassle and give up," Lucifer said.

"Never. I will not stop until you are back where you belong. It's you who needs to give up. You don't belong here. You have a responsibility to carry out Father's task for you," Amenadiel said.

Lucifer laughed at his brother. "I stopped having any responsibilities towards that old man when he tossed me out. He can go screw himself. You can feel free to do the same."

Amenadiel began to get angry. "You deserved to be tossed out! You've turned into a…"

"Stop being mean to my daddy!" Beatrice suddenly yelled, cutting Amenadiel off mid-sentence.

Both men turned to her and Chloe. "Beatrice, go to your bedroom for a bit please. I will call for you soon," Lucifer said.

"But…"

"It's okay, sweetheart. Everything's going to be okay. You should do what your daddy says," Chloe added.

Beatrice glared at Amenadiel for a minute before walking back towards her bedroom.

Amenadiel turned back to his brother annoyed. "When are you going to stop hiding behind that kid?"

"Get out, brother. As my daughter just pointed out, you're not welcome here," Lucifer said.

"She's not your daughter. Thankfully, you can't reproduce," Amenadiel sneered.

"What is wrong with you?" Chloe asked Amenadiel in disgust.

"Oh, Detective, there aren't even enough days in a century to adequately answer that one," Lucifer retorted.

Chloe walked over and got into Amenadiel's face. "Lucifer is a wonderful father. You don't have to bring a child into the world to be a parent. How dare you disrespect not only what Lucifer has done for Beatrice, but what every other adoptive parent does for their children!"

Amenadiel scoffed in response. "You don't know what you're talking about. He doesn't give a damn about that kid or anyone else. He's only using her to avoid what he knows he needs to do."

"And why would I need to do that? I started avoiding it, as you say, long before Beatrice came into my life. I don't need anyone to help me tell you where to go. I refuse to do what you want because I don't want to. It's that simple. Now, these visits of yours are getting tedious. You've attempted multiple times to get me to do what you want. You even tried to have Beatrice taken from me. You failed every time. What will it take for you to learn that nothing will get you what you want," Lucifer said with a satisfied smirk. He honestly didn't care what Amenadiel did as long as Beatrice wasn't hurt, which Amenadiel wouldn't dare to do. Not only was it against his father's rules, but Amenadiel knew Lucifer would kill him. He couldn't take Beatrice from him because Lucifer wouldn't let it happen. He didn't care what it took. No one was taking his child from him.

"You're arrogant, brother. If you don't do what you're told, Father will force you," Amenadiel warned.

"Yet, he hasn't. It makes me wonder if he even cares. Now, as I said, get out!" Lucifer said sharply.

"This is not over," Amenadiel said before heading out of the room.

"Wow. Now I see why you and your brother don't get along. He's a real dick," Chloe said.

"Indeed. Let's not waste any more time on him. I hope you slept well," Lucifer said.

"Yeah. Thanks for letting me stay here, and for listening to me last night," Chloe said.

"Of course. Now, how about I make all of us breakfast?" Lucifer asked.

"That sounds great. I'll go let Beatrice know she can come back now," Chloe said.

Lucifer nodded and headed for the refrigerator to get what he needed to start cooking


	9. Chapter 9

Chloe watched from her desk as several officers and detectives stood around Malcolm Graham. He'd woken from his coma a couple of weeks ago. Obviously, most of the department was glad he was back. Chloe, however, still didn't trust him, despite the fact that she still had no evidence to suggest he was dirty.

Chloe never liked or trusted Malcolm, and she couldn't deny that that increased after Trixie disappeared. The realistic part of her knew that Malcolm wasn't responsible for that. It was Dan's responsibility to look after their daughter, not Malcolm's, but Malcolm being there certainly didn't help. She felt like him being there at least added to Dan's neglectfulness. It wasn't right for her to think that way, but she couldn't help it. She just couldn't help but ask herself over and over if she'd still have her daughter if he wasn't there.

Trixie wasn't the only reason Chloe didn't trust Malcolm though. She never had. She was sure he was dirty. That feeling got worse a few years ago. He suddenly came into money a few years earlier that he couldn't have gotten from a cop's salary. He claimed he inherited it, but Chloe never believed that. She was sure he was corrupt. That feeling only got worse by the time the Palmetto incident happened. Unfortunately, she had no proof.

Just then, Lucifer came over. "Good morning, Detective."

"Hey," Chloe said, finally tearing her eyes away from Malcolm.

Lucifer turned to where she had been looking. "Is that the detective you were telling me about?"

"Yeah, that's Malcolm. He's made a pretty quick recovering considering. He'll probably be back to work soon," Chloe said as she stood up. She wasn't looking forward to that. She hated dirty cops, and she knew Malcolm was one. She did not want him in the precinct. "Anyway, I got a call about a case about five minutes ago. I was just waiting for you. We should go."

"Certainly," Lucifer said, leading the way out.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Lucifer couldn't help but notice how tense the detective was. He noticed it at the crime scene and as they were driving back. Her hands were gripping the steering wheel quite tightly. "Detective, is everything alright? Are you still upset about that detective at the station earlier?"

Chloe sighed. She did still have Malcolm on her mind. She didn't know how to get him out of it. All she kept thinking was that he didn't belong with the LAPD. "I've never liked Malcolm. He's always been a smug bastard who treats anyone under him like garbage."

"Such as yourself?" Lucifer asked.

"Yeah. I was a patrol officer when I met him. He and Dan were friends, so I saw him often enough. He was actually at my house with Dan the night Trixie disappeared," Chloe said.

"I see," Lucifer responded. He could tell that some of her dislike for this man came from the fact that he participated in the neglect of her child.

"I have told myself over and over again that it wasn't his fault, and I know that that's true. It wasn't Malcolm's responsibility to watch my kid," Chloe said.

"Perhaps not, but I imagine there are things he could've or couldn't have done that would've prevented the situation," Lucifer said

"That's what I keep coming back to. If Malcolm and Dan hadn't been getting drunk together, my kid might still be here. If one of them had thought enough to close the damn door, she'd still be her. But again, it wasn't Malcolm's responsibility. Dan was responsible for his choices that day. I shouldn't blame Malcolm, but I do. It probably doesn't help that I didn't trust him before that. I didn't want him in my house that day," Chloe said.

"Then he shouldn't have been there," Lucifer said. He was sure the douche knew that his wife didn't trust that man. He should've had the courtesy to keep him out of her home. But he was a douche, so Lucifer wasn't surprised.

"Like I said, I know I shouldn't blame Malcolm for it. It's not really his fault. But if he's corrupt, and I'm sure he is, that is his fault. He's an insult to every decent cop," Chloe said.

"What makes you think he's corrupt?" Lucifer asked.

"Well, for one, his income isn't nearly as big as his spending habits. He and his wife both got brand new cars a few years ago, along with a big house. We're talking expensive cars too, the kind you would buy. He said he inherited some cash, but…"

"You think he was lying," Lucifer guessed.

"Yeah. There were other things. Some things from crime scenes would turn up missing. It didn't happen often enough to prove anything though, and he didn't leave anything to implicate himself. He was smart with whatever he did," Chloe explained.

"Would you allow me to help you investigate him?" Lucifer asked.

Chloe sighed. "I should just let it go. The entire department already hates me for trying to prove a 'hero' dirty." Truthfully though, she didn't want to let it go. If Malcolm was corrupt, he didn't belong in the department. People like him made cops look bad, and they made it possible for criminals to get away with things.

"I don't think you'll be able to do that, Detective. You're too good of a detective to walk away from it. I may be able to help you prove it. I could at least find out if the money you mentioned really was given to him through legitimate means," Lucifer said.

Chloe was really tempted. She was sure she was right about Malcolm and she wanted to prove it, but she wasn't sure about opening that can of worms again, especially if she turned out to be wrong. She didn't think she was wrong, but a good detective always had to consider the possibility that they were. Plus, it wasn't exactly ethical for to have Lucifer dig into Malcolm's past. She knew he wouldn't exactly use legal means. "I don't know. Let's talk about it later. We have a crime scene to get to."

Lucifer decided he was probably going to look into it either way. The detective was clearly bothered by this man, and Lucifer wanted to help her in any way he could. "Of course. Oh, will you still be joining me tonight at Beatrice's school."

Chloe smiled. "Of course. I promised her I'd come see her play. I'm looking forward to it."

"Good. Perhaps you can keep me from utter boredom," Lucifer said.

Chloe chuckled. "You don't fool me, Lucifer. You can pretend you don't want to go, but I know you would never miss one of your daughter's functions.

"Of course not, but that doesn't mean it isn't boring. But at least I won't be there alone," Lucifer said.

"Isn't Maze gonna be there too?" Chloe asked. She just assumed Beatrice would ask her, and she didn't think Maze would turn her down. She didn't know Maze well, but she knew she loved Beatrice and would do whatever the little girl asked.

"Maze isn't permitted at Beatrice's school anymore," Lucifer said.

"Did she torment a child?" Chloe asked.

"More than one, but the little demons deserved it. The brats was lucky it wasn't me," Lucifer said. He wouldn't have harmed children, but he would've made sure they knew not to bother his child again.

"Well, I will say that Beatrice is lucky to have the two of you to protect her, even if you go overboard," Chloe said.

"There is no such thing, Detective."

Chloe shook her head and smiled as the pulled into the driveway of the crime scene.


	10. Chapter 10

Chloe sat with Beatrice at a small diner close to the police station, where they were having lunch. The two of them had just finished doing some shopping. She'd offered to take Beatrice for the day. She figured the little girl could do with a girl's day, something she didn't really get without a mom. She had Maze, of course, but Maze was… unique. It also gave Lucifer a chance for some down time. Between running a nightclub, consulting with the police, and caring for a seven-year-old, Chloe figured he had to be pretty beat.

"Today was so much fun, Chloe. Thanks for taking me shopping. Daddy doesn't like to shop," Beatrice said.

"I'll bet he doesn't," Chloe said with a smile. Most guys didn't like to shop, and Lucifer didn't seem like an exception. He was a diva about what he would wear, but he was the type that would pick out what he wanted from catalogs and make someone else get it for him.

"He complains a lot anytime he takes me. I still like it, but shopping with you was much more fun," Beatrice said.

"I had a lot of fun too. Did you ever go shopping with your Mom? Oh, you don't have to answer that," Chloe said, adding her last sentence quickly. She didn't think it through before asking about the little girl's mother. Beatrice didn't have a good life before she met Lucifer. Chloe was probably bringing up bad memories by asking about that time.

"It's okay. I don't remember her a lot, but I remember her being sort of nice. She was nicer than my old daddy, but she could be mean sometimes too, especially when she took the special medicine," Beatrice explained. She didn't mind talking about her mother. As she said, she didn't really remember her that much, and she didn't really miss her. She didn't think her mommy was very good. She wasn't like Chloe, at least not that Beatrice remembered. Chloe was always nice to her. She talked to her all the time and took her places sometimes, like shopping today. Beatrice was sometimes afraid of her real mommy, especially when she took the medicine.

Chloe could only guess that the 'special medicine' was drugs. It would explain a change of demeanor while she was on them. Beatrice had really had terrible luck for the first several years of her life. Lucifer would probably protest if she said it out loud, but he seemed to almost be a godsend to this child. Who knew what would have happened to her if not for him. "Well, it's really sad that your first mommy and daddy were so mean to you, but you have your daddy now, and he'll never do that to you."

"I know. Daddy always takes care of me. I used to get scared he'd leave me, like my old daddy was going to do. My old daddy told me he was going to send me away because I was bad." Beatrice said sadly.

Chloe was sickened. As someone who had had her child taken from her, she found it disgusting that someone could be so unappreciative to the gift having a child was. This man had the most wonderful little girl in the world, and he treated her like dirt. He abused her physically and emotionally, and if that weren't enough, he abandoned her. Chloe supposed that last part was a blessing in disguise, as it saved Beatrice's life and gave her a loving home, but Chloe certainly wasn't going to give the bastard points for it. "You're not bad, honey. Don't let anyone ever tell you that again."

"Daddy said so too, and he promised to never leave me. I wasn't sure I could believe him at first, but now I know that Daddy doesn't ever break promises," Beatrice said.

"No, he doesn't," Lucifer drove Chloe crazy more often than not, but she also admired him because he didn't break promises and he was honest to a fault. Even the Devil stuff was honest because he wasn't really lying. He was just using metaphors. To him, it was true.

"Do you like my daddy? He likes you," Beatrice said.

"Of course, I like your daddy. We're really good friends," Chloe said.

"That's not what I meant. I meant do you like him the way boys and girls sometimes like each other. I think he likes you like that," Beatrice said.

"I think you're mistaken, sweetheart," Chloe said with a chuckle. Oh, she knew Lucifer wanted to get her into bed. He'd made more than enough comments about it since they met, but Lucifer wanted to get every woman into bed. She didn't think it was any different than that.

"I don't think so," Beatrice said. She knew her daddy liked Chloe that way, and she believed Chloe felt the same way about her daddy. She hoped so. It would be really cool if Chloe and her daddy got married one day. Then Chloe could be her mommy. She could finally have a nice mommy.

Chloe was saved from responding when her phone went off. She immediately took it out and answered it. "Decker. Now? Okay, I'll be there soon."

Beatrice's face fell as she listened to Chloe on the phone. "Do we have to leave?"

"I'm afraid so, honey. I have to go to work, but we'll have the waitress box up the rest of our lunch to go," Chloe said.

"But you said we could get ice cream afterwards," Beatrice said sadly.

"I know, I'm sorry, but we'll still get ice cream. Maybe we can go tonight after I finish what I have to do, as long as your daddy's okay with it. Maybe he'll come with us," Chloe said.

Beatrice perked up a bit. It would be better if her daddy got to come too. "Okay."

"Would you mind if I take you to work with me? I can call Daddy and have him meet us there," Chloe said. The police station was much closer than LUX. It would be easier than taking her back to the penthouse and then going to the station, but she wanted to make sure Beatrice was okay with it. She hadn't had the best experience the last time she'd come to the station.

"Will that man from last time be there?" Beatrice asked in an uneasy tone.

"Probably, but I promise I won't let him be mean to you," Chloe told her.

"Okay," Beatrice said. She believed Chloe would protect her. She never let anything bad happen.

"Great," Chloe said before picking up her phone again to call Lucifer.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Chloe had Beatrice sit in front of her desk with some paper and crayons while they waited for Lucifer. Maze would also be coming to pick Beatrice up so that Lucifer could help her with the case she'd just been handed. The good thing was that they didn't have to process the crime scene. That had already been done. Chloe had been given the case from another detective who had an emergency.

Chloe was looking over the file of her new case when she heard footsteps approach her desk. She looked up to be unpleasantly surprised by Malcolm Graham. "Can I help you, Malcolm?"

"Caught a new one, huh, Decker?" Malcolm asked with a smarmy smile on his face.

"Yeah, if you'd let me get back to it," Chloe said as politely as possible.

Malcolm's eyes traveled to the young girl seated across from Chloe. "You're babysitting too, it seems. After all, she can't be yours. You don't have kids anymore."

Chloe bristled inside, but she would not give Malcolm the satisfaction. He wanted to get a rise out of her. It wouldn't be the first time he attempted to use Trixie to do that. She would not play his game. "Did you actually need something, Malcolm?"

Malcolm ignored her and focused on the kid. "Hey, kid. My name's Malcolm. What's yours?"

"I'm not allowed to talk to strangers," Beatrice said as she looked at him. She didn't like him. He was being mean to Chloe, but pretending to be nice. She'd learned that adults did that sometimes. They could act nice when they were really being mean.

"I'm a police officer," Malcolm said.

"But a stranger nonetheless," a new voice said.

Beatrice turned and smiled at her father as he came over. "Hi, Daddy."

"Hello, Urchin," Lucifer said before turning back to Malcolm Graham. "IS there a reason you're addressing my child, Detective Graham?"

"Just being friendly. I didn't know you had a kid. It seems strange that someone like you would have kids," Malcolm said.

"Yes, well, it seems equally strange that someone like you would be in law enforcement. Kindly refrain from approaching my daughter in the future. I've heard you don't have great history with other people's children," Lucifer said.

Malcolm froze for a minute, wondering if Morningstar knew anything about his involvement with what happened to Decker's kid, but he soon came to the conclusion that if he did know anything, Decker would know by now too, which she obviously didn't. Decker must have just told him that Malcolm was there that day. "Well, I don't know what you've heard, but I didn't…"

"Do anything to protect an innocent child? Yes, I'm aware," Lucifer interrupted

Malcolm glared at him before walking away.

"Is everything okay? That man wasn't very nice," Beatrice said.

"It's fine, sweetie. No, he wasn't very nice, but it's okay," Chloe told her.

"Did you have a good day?" Lucifer asked his daughter.

"Uh huh. It was so much fun. We spent two hours at the mall buying clothes," Beatrice said.

"That sounds like an agonizing torture session," Lucifer said.

Chloe, meanwhile, grabbed Lucifer's credit card from her pocket. "Here. We didn't go crazy."

Lucifer took the offered item. "Why not? I told you to spend as much as you wanted."

"We got everything we needed without putting a dent in your bank account," Chloe said.

"I assure you, Detective, that was never a possibility," Lucifer said.

"Daddy, Chloe said we could go out for ice cream later if it's okay with you. Can we go?"

"Certainly. For now, however, Maze will be arriving shortly to take you home," Lucifer said before motioning for her to stand up.

Beatrice stood up. "Bye, Chloe. See you later. Thanks for taking me shopping."

"You're welcome, sweetheart. I'll see you tonight. I'll bring all your new clothes to you when I come over. They're still in my car," Chloe said.

"Okay," Beatrice said before taking her father's hand and walking out with him.


	11. Chapter 11

Lucifer was sitting on his couch in the penthouse flipping through the file he'd managed to get on Malcolm Graham for the detective. In the background, he listened as Beatrice practiced on the piano. He'd started teaching her to play it several months ago. He had been kind of impressed by her determination to learn. He'd expected her to give up when she realized how much work it would be, but she kept up with it.

The piano stopped a few moments later. "Am I doing good, Daddy."

Lucifer stood up and approached her. "You're doing well for the amount of time you've been practicing. You still have much to learn though." He didn't lie to anyone. He certainly didn't intend to start with his own child. It annoyed him immensely when he heard idiot parents tell their children they were perfect at everything. All that did was turn them even further into arrogant little beasts. Beatrice was given a realistic outlook of her talents, and Lucifer made sure she understood that to be good at things, she was going to have to work hard for it most of the time. She responded very well to that. It made her more eager to learn.

Beatrice smiled at her father. She liked it when he told her the truth like that, not that her daddy would ever lie. She liked it because then it made her try harder to do better.

"Alright, you've been at it for an hour now. We'll stop for today. Maze will be here soon to take you out for dinner. Go get ready," Lucifer said. He'd invited the detective over to share what he'd learned about Malcolm Graham and he preferred Beatrice not be present for that, so he'd asked Maze to take her for a couple of hours.

Beatrice nodded and ran off to her bedroom.

No sooner than the child was gone did the elevator ding. Maze stepped through seconds later. "Hey. The kid ready?"

"She will be in a few moments." Lucifer said.

"Good. I wanna get out of here before the human gets here," Maze said.

Lucifer walked over and sat back down on the couch. "So how are your games with my brother coming?" Maze told him a while ago that Amenadiel had approached her to try to help him get Lucifer back to Hell. She had been messing with him ever since.

"Over, unfortunately. He figured me out. It's a shame. It was fun yanking an angel around," Maze said with a smirk. In truth, under different circumstances, she might have helped Amenadiel because she did miss Hell, but the kid changed things. She would be hurt if they went back to Hell, and Maze wouldn't allow that. The kid was probably the only human Maze actually cared about.

Lucifer chuckled. "There's my treacherous demon. Though, I don't condone lying, of course."

Maze smirked. "You don't lie. I'm a demon. I take no issue with it."

"Hmm. So long as you don't dare try it with me," Lucifer said in a slightly dangerous tone.

Beatrice came back out moments later in her shoes and jacket. "Hi, Maze. I'm ready."

"Great. Let's get out of here so your dad can get ready to talk shop with his boring partner," Maze said.

"Chloe's coming? But I want to see her," Beatrice whined. She did not know Chloe was coming over when her father told her Maze was taking her out. She would've wanted to stay if she did.

"You just saw her last weekend when she took you shopping. She's coming over for work. You don't need to be here for that," Lucifer said firmly.

"But…"

"Perhaps I can talk her into staying until you get back, but I make no promises. Either way, you will be going with Maze. You'll have another chance to see the detective, I assure you," he told her."

"Okay. Bye, Daddy," Beatrice said in a disappointed tone.

"Goodbye, Urchin. I'll see you soon," Lucifer said.

"I don't know why you'd wanna spend so much time with the most boring human on the planet anyway," Maze said as she led the way to the elevator.

"Chloe's not boring. She's really fun," Beatrice said as the two of them disappeared.

Meanwhile, Lucifer got up and went to the bar. He poured two drinks, one for himself and one for the detective when she arrived. He didn't have long to wait. He heard the elevator again moments after he finished pouring.

Chloe stepped into the penthouse seconds later. "Hey."

"Hello, Detective," he said as he walked over to her and held out a glass. "I took the liberty of pouring you a drink."

Chloe took the drink. "Thanks. I can't stay for very long. I have to be in early tomorrow morning, so I need to get some sleep. You said you needed to talk to me about something."

Lucifer gestured to the couch and watched as the detective went and sat down. Lucifer went over and sat next to her.

Chloe caught a look at the file Lucifer had on his coffee table and figured out why he asked her to meet him. "Why do you have a file on Malcolm Graham?"

"Don't you remember, Detective? We talked about me assisting you with your theory regarding Detective Graham," Lucifer reminded her.

"Yes, and I told you I had to think about it. I assumed that by saying nothing else, you'd have figured out that my answer was no," Chloe said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, Detective, you should never assume with the Devil," Lucifer said with a large grin.

"Clearly not. Lucifer, do you know how many lines you've crossed. I can only assume you broke the law to get whatever it is you have in that file, and if that's the case, we could both be in a lot of trouble," Chloe lectured.

"You needn't worry. Nothing can be traced back to either of us, and I think you'll be very interested in what you read," Lucifer said.

"No, I shouldn't read that. The moment I do, I become complicit in this whole thing," Chloe said. She was saying more for herself than for Lucifer. The compulsion to read that file was extreme. She wanted to know if she was right about Malcolm, but she knew it was wrong to look in that file knowing that she'd gotten it through shady means.

"Well, I could read it to you instead," Lucifer said.

"No! You should just throw that away. I shouldn't know what's inside," Chloe said.

"Even though you were right. Detective Graham is hiding something," Lucifer said.

Chloe looked from Lucifer back to the file. Now she was more tempted to look. Lucifer had just told her that her suspicions of Malcolm were accurate. She wanted to see that herself. She wanted to stop him. But she knew it was wrong to do it. She could get into a lot of trouble. "Even if you somehow have a smoking gun in there, I can't use it to take him down. It would kill my own career before it would his."

"I understand that, Detective, but it could at least help you figure out how you want to proceed next. It could help you find a way to bring him down," Lucifer reasoned.

Chloe hesitated as she continued to stare at the appealing file. "You've read it, right?"

"You said it's worth it, right?" Chloe asked.

"It's interesting. It proves you're not off base, but it still lacks what you would call evidence," Lucifer said.

Chloe's curiosity got the better of her and she picked up the file. She started flipping through it and found herself into Malcolm's financial records. "Damn. I knew Malcolm got his hands on a lot of money, but this is five hundred grand!"

"Hmm. I haven't been able to figure out how he got ahold of it, but it certainly wasn't an inheritance, as he claimed," Lucifer said.

"There doesn't seem to be a trace at all. The money seems to have just appeared in his account one day. This has to be the result of illegal activity. Someone worked hard to make sure this money couldn't come back to them," Chloe said.

"He was likely paid cash and then deposited it into the bank," Lucifer said.

"But this kind of money would have to raise a red flag, wouldn't it? A bank should at least question it," Chloe said.

"Even if they did, all it would take is knowing the right person and having the right dollar amount," Lucifer said.

"Where the hell did he get it," Chloe asked rhetorically as she continued to look at the file. Suddenly, a small detail caught her attention. The date the money went into Malcolm's account. "July 9, 2011."

"Does the date mean anything to you?" Lucifer asked.

"No, not that complete date, but that year. It's just a coincidence, that's all, and it's not even a really be one. It really doesn't mean anything," Chloe said.

"Well, it obviously means something if you're focusing on it. What is it, Detective?" Lucifer asked.

"It's just that it was less than two months after my daughter disappeared that he got his hands on this. Like I said, it doesn't mean anything. I think the fact that the two dates were so close just struck me for a minute," Chloe said. As she said it though, a nagging feeling was stuck in her gut. Something was saying that it was more than a simple coincidence.

"He received a half a million dollars no more than several weeks after your daughter went missing essentially in front of him?" Lucifer asked.

Chloe shook her head. "No, I'm making too much out of it. I have to be."

"You told me that Detective Douche was asleep when your child went missing. Where was Detective Graham at that point?" Lucifer asked.

"He said he was asleep too. It wasn't farfetched. They both admitted to drinking. Dan was legally drunk. I made him take a test. I wanted to know how far gone he was when he neglected our daughter. I don't know about Malcolm, but he did say he was drinking," Chloe said.

"Was abduction ever considered?" Lucifer asked.

"Well, every angle is investigated when a child goes missing, but all evidence pointed to Trixie walking out the front door by herself. We figured if anything, someone picked her up afterwards. There was no sign of a break in," Chloe said as her eyes darted back to the file. "But there wouldn't be if…. Oh, God, what am I doing? I'm going crazy here. Malcolm's a cop. Being on the take is one thing, but we're talking about child abduction."

"It's not impossible though, is it? He was there, and there's no one who can account for his actions when your child disappeared," Lucifer said.

"Do you think he took my baby?" Chloe asked in a shaky voice. She couldn't believe this was happening. Was it even happening? Did she finally have a lead on her child or was her mind trying to come up with one that didn't exist? This was far from damning evidence. It wasn't really evidence at all. It was a bunch of money and a date. It meant nothing.

"I don't know, but I think it's possible. No one knows exactly what happened that day. And he did come into a lot of money afterwards, the kind things like this can buy," Lucifer said, finishing with a low growl. Crimes against children infuriated him. He didn't like any child other than his own, but he had a special disgust for people who harmed them. He very clearly remembered Beatrice's biological father abusing and trying to sell her, just as Malcolm Graham may have sold the detective's child. It infuriated him.

"I…I don't know what I really believed happened before. So many possibilities ran through my head, each worse than the other. This was never one. My kid sold on the black market? I don't know if this is better or worse. If she was, it means maybe she's still alive, but it also means I'm not likely to ever see her again," Chloe cried. She didn't know what to do with this, if it was even true. She still had no idea if Malcolm played any role in her daughter's disappearance.

"What do you want to do, Detective?" Lucifer asked.

"I have to know. I have to know what role Malcolm played that day," Chloe said. She was all in with Lucifer investigating Malcolm now. She didn't care if it was legal or not. This was her child. She had to know what happened to her.

"Very well. I will do everything I can to help you find out," Lucifer promised.

"Thank you," she said before leaning in and hugging him tightly.


	12. Chapter 12

"No deal," Beatrice said in her most serious voice. She was standing in front of her father in the living room.

"What? But it's a wonderful deal," Lucifer protested. This was outrageous. No one had ever turned down one of his deals before. Surely his nearly eight-year-old daughter was not going to be the first.

"I want the party more. Plus, I know you already bought me the bike. Maze told me," Beatrice said with a triumphant smile on his face.

"Bloody hell, Mazikeen," Lucifer cursed under his breath. "Well, there must be something else you want, right? Tell me what it is you'd like."

"I want my party with my friends," Beatrice said firmly. Every year for her birthday, her father would bribe her with something so that she would settle for a party with just him and Maze, but she wasn't going to let him this year. She wanted a real party.

"There has to be something else."

Beatrice shook her head.

"You're being completely unreasonable, Urchin," Lucifer said. He had to think of something she'd want. He would not survive an afternoon with a bunch of pint-sized demons running around his home. Unfortunately, he also knew if he couldn't bribe Beatrice, he would end up giving in.

Just then, they heard the ding of the elevator. Chloe stepped through a moment later.

"Chloe!" Beatrice exclaimed as she ran to the woman.

Chloe bent down and hugged the little girl. "Hi, sweetheart."

Beatrice pulled away after a minute. "I'm glad you're here. My birthday party is gonna be the weekend after next. Will you come?"

"Of course I will," Chloe said.

"Yay! I'm gonna have a party with my friends," Beatrice said. She knew her father would agree. He never said no when she really wanted something. He would try to bribe her if he didn't want to do it, but she knew if she didn't give in, she'd get what she wanted.

"Hey, I didn't agree to that. We're still negotiating," Lucifer said as he stood up. "Go get your bag. We have to get you to school."

Beatrice nodded and ran to her bedroom.

"Why didn't you tell me her birthday was coming up. I would've had more time to find a gift," Chloe said. Granted, two weeks wasn't that short notice, but she worked a lot, and it was going to be hard to find a gift for a little girl with a father who would naturally get her everything she wanted. Beatrice was very spoiled, though not in the way most rich kids were, thankfully. Lucifer might give her nearly everything she wanted, but he also instilled values in her. Beatrice didn't look down on anyone else because her father had money. She was very kind to nearly everyone. She was not entitled.

"You don't need to get her a gift, Detective," Lucifer said.

"Of course I do. I'm not showing up to your child's party without a gift. Although, I would get her a gift whether I was invited or not. You'll have to tell me what she wants and what you've already gotten her," Chloe said.

"The answer will be the same to both those things. I got her everything she wanted," Lucifer said.

Chloe groaned. That was exactly what she was afraid of. She'd have to think of something on her own. "So, I hear your trying to avoid a traditional birthday party?"

Lucifer scowled. "The child is being unreasonable. Every year, I manage to get her off the idea of having other children over, but promising her something big in exchange for a small party with Maze and I, but now the child won't be bought."

Chloe laughed. "Did you think you'd be able to bribe here forever."

"Yes! It worked just fine for the last three years," Lucifer grumbled. "Little monsters running around my property, touching things."

Chloe laughed as she heard him shudder. "I'm never going to get your dead with kids. You have a kid."

"And as I told you, Detective, my child is different. Most children are awful. They remind me of demons, only you can't reign them him. I don't need dozens of them roaming around my home," Lucifer said.

"Well, I admit that this probably isn't the best setting for a child's birthday party. You could rent a place that does birthday parties. No, actually, I have a better idea. My mom has a big house and yard. She's rarely in town, and I know she won't mind us using it for an afternoon," Chloe said. She'd offer her own place, but she lived in a one bedroom apartment. It wouldn't work for a birthday party."

That did sound somewhat better to Lucifer. At least he wouldn't have a bunch of mini demons possibly destroying his property. "I suppose I'd still have to be there."

Chloe rolled her eyes and smacked him on the arm playfully. "Yes, you'd still have to be at your daughter's birthday party, and you know you wouldn't have it any other way."

"Perhaps," Lucifer conceded. "Well, thank you, Detective, and if you're sure, I will gladly accept your offer."

"Great. We can talk plans later," she said.

Lucifer turned towards his daughter's bedroom. "Beatrice, let's go! You need to get to School, and the detective and I need to get to work!"

"Yeah, another day of staring at Malcolm and trying not to strangle him," Chloe said. Ever since she and Lucifer had put together the possibility that Malcolm may have been involved in Trixie's disappearance, Chloe couldn't stand looking at him. Not that she had particularly liked looking at him prior to that.

"Well, at least we have an active case to keep you busy," Lucifer said. That was why the detective was picking him up that day. They were going straight to interview a possible witness. They'd decided that it just made more sense to ride together than to wait for Lucifer to show up at the precinct. "We will find the truth about Malcolm Graham's role in your daughter's kidnapping, Detective. He will be punished for it."

"If he even did it," Chloe said. She had to keep reminding herself that they had no evidence that pointed to Malcolm's involvement, other than his presence at her home that day and a slightly suspicious timeline.

Just then, Beatrice came back out ready to go. "Sorry, Daddy. I couldn't find my math workbook."

"Did you find it?" Chloe asked.

"Uh huh. I'm ready," she said.

"Excellent. Let's go," Lucifer said before leading his daughter to the elevator.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Beatrice was at recess talking with two of her friends. She was telling them about the birthday party she was going to have. Her father finally agreed that she could have her party when he and Chloe were taking her to school, not that she ever doubted he'd give in, but she was really excited about it.

Suddenly, Beatrice looked up and saw a man across the playground. He looked old and had dark skin. She immediately smiled as she recognized him. "I'll be right back."

After leaving her friends, Beatrice ran to the man. "Grandpa!"

"Hello, my dear," the man said as bent down and picked her up.

Beatrice hugged her grandfather tightly before pulling out of his arms a little. "I missed you. How come you're at my school though? You usually come at night."

"I know, but I decided not to interrupt your sleep. I know you have a birthday coming up and I wanted to make sure I saw you," God said before setting her down on the ground.

Beatrice grinned. "I get to have a party with my friends this year!"

"That's wonderful. I hope you have a wonderful time," God said.

Beatrice glanced around at the playground. She was worried the teacher would see her with her grandpa. Grownups didn't like it when kids talked to people they didn't recognize. That's why they taught them not to talk to strangers. Her grandpa wasn't a stranger to Beatrice, but he was to the other grownups.

"Don't worry, child. They won't pay either of us any mind while I'm here. Now, I wanted to bring you a gift, but I don't want you hiding anything else from your father, so you'll have to wait a little while for it," God told her.

"Does that mean that you and Daddy are gonna make up?" Beatrice asked hopefully. That would be really great. She didn't like having to hide her grandpa's visits from her daddy, but she knew her daddy would be really mad if she told him.

"I hope so, and I've told you that you do not have to hide my visits from your father," God said, reading the child's mind a bit.

"I know, but he'd be mad," she said.

"At me, not you," God assured her.

"Daddy doesn't think you like him," Beatrice said.

"He's wrong. I hope to be able to tell him that soon, but he's not quite ready yet," God said. His son was not prepared to hear from him yet. Even if he told him that he loved him, Samael would not believe him. It would only make him more angry. They were getting closer to the point where they could meet again and clear the air, but it just wasn't time yet. "I hear you and your daddy have a new friend now."

Beatrice perked right up. "Chloe! Daddy works with her. I like her a lot! Daddy does to. He likes her the way boys and girls sometimes like each other. I think Chloe likes him like that too. I hope so. If she does, maybe she can be my mommy one day."

God chuckled a bit. "Well, I can tell you that Chloe will always be a part of your life, and that she will always love you."

"Yay!"

"Beatrice, I want you to know that no matter how complicated adult things may get, your father and Chloe both love you very much. It may not seem so at times, but everything will work out," God promised.

"Okay," Beatrice said with a little bit of confusion in her voice. She didn't know what her grandpa meant by that, but he sometimes said things she didn't understand. A lot of adults did.

"Alright, I have to go now. I think it's almost time for you to go back to class," God said.

"You'll come back soon, right?" Beatrice asked.

"As soon as I can," he told her.

Beatrice hugged him. "Bye, Grandpa."

"Goodbye, child," he said as he hugged her back and then watched her run back to her friends. Yes, things would be trying for his son and grandchild once the truth was revealed, but he had no doubt that it would work out for them.


End file.
